Salvation Army offers rehabilitation options

RIDGWAY – Lieutenant Esther Wilson, a Corps Officer for the Western Pennsylvania Branch of the Salvation Army, has recently announced that the Ridgway-based center would be available to offer transportation to surrounding Salvation Army adult rehabilitation centers for area residents seeking treatment.

Copyright 2010 Daily Press

RIDGWAY – Lieutenant Esther Wilson, a Corps Officer for the Western Pennsylvania Branch of the Salvation Army, has recently announced that the Ridgway-based center would be available to offer transportation to surrounding Salvation Army adult rehabilitation centers for area residents seeking treatment.
"We're all one army," she said.
However, according to Wilson, Ridgway's Salvation Army is making an attempt at "bridging the gap" between their facility and those that offer the necessary services for those seeking help.
The rehabilitation centers provide a six-month treatment program, which includes social and emotional assistance for those coping with drug and alcohol abuse as well as those unable to provide for themselves due to emotional problems. The programs seek to help participants re-enter society in a meaningful way and includes housing, meals, and work therapy as well as group and individual counseling.
"We're a long-term in-house program. Mostly, it deals with substance abuse issues but it's not necessarily a requirement. It's really for people who have fallen away from society for whatever reason," said Major Mark Unruh, program director of the Erie Adult Rehabilitation Center.
Wilson offered that Ridgway's Salvation Army could offer transportation to nearby facilities including those in Erie and Altoona. However, these facilities currently accept only male beneficiaries. Females seeking to enter the rehabilitation programs are accepted at the Harrisburg center as well as those in New York City and Philadelphia.
Wilson explained that she would be willing to transport women to these facilities as well. Additionally, according to Unruh, once a beneficiary has been accepted through the intake process, the rehabilitation center alerts the local Salvation Army who in turn provides bus fare as an alternative method of transportation.
The intake process involves speaking to an intake counselor "who would then go over their needs and see if they are a good fit for the program," Unruh said.
"We are more than willing to transport someone who needs that sort of help because we are quite aware of the drug and alcohol problem that Ridgway has and Elk County in general," Wilson said. "I am trying to make the community aware that yes, there is help, and there is good help free."
The treatment is free of cost to individuals as the program is funded through the Salvation Army's truck program.
"The adult rehabilitation center is 100 percent funded through the collection and processing and resale of donated goods," Unruh said.
Many graduates of the rehabilitation program have stayed on to become drivers for the trucks that travel nationwide in order to deliver and collect donated goods for the many Salvation Army thrift stores.
"There are good resources out there and we just have to refer people to those good agencies that are available to help them," Wilson said.
Those interested in seeking the assistance of the Salvation Army can contact an intake counselor at any of the rehabilitation centers as well as contact Wilson or Ketta Melzer at the Ridgway Salvation Army Office at 772-0485.